Pitfalls to Avoid in Cloud Adoption: A Siloed Approach

This is part three of our five-part series on Major Pitfalls to Avoid During Cloud Adoption, today we're focused on a siloed approach to cloud adoption.

It is tempting to think that cloud adoption is the process of migrating from one data centre to another, however, data centre functionalities are only a subset of cloud services. Cloud Service Providers focus on providing (increasingly industry-specific) building blocks that are expected to be chained together and tailored to business needs.

Transitioning from operating hardware and virtual infrastructure to crafting solutions using CSP-provided building blocks means acquiring new skills. Based on how cloud services work, the roles and responsibilities of individuals and teams will need to be revised to include extensions to seamless cloud operations. Upskilling and role changes need collaboration from human resources, training, finance, and organizational change management teams; the impact extends beyond technology groups.

Solution to Pitfall 3: Establish Cloud Centre of Excellence to Support Cross-Team, Cross-Function Collaboration

According to the organizational change management guru Prof. John P. Kotter, “building a guiding coalition” is one of the critical steps for introducing changes. The guiding coalition, in this case, is a group of leaders across levels of the hierarchies and functionalities that have the authority to forge the path to (positive) changes. The guiding coalition in cloud adoption is also known as the Cloud Centre of Excellence.

Some organizations may misinterpret CCOE as a committee of managers and architects deciding the path for cloud adoption; however, the original intent of CCOE is several change champions from different functions and teams who will implement the cloud rather than only design it. CCOE often consists of a cloud leader, a product owner, financial analysts, org change SMEs, a training team, a cloud architect, security teams and platform engineers. Together they decide on the roadmap of the cloud platform, but more importantly, they also ensure the cloud roadmap is executed. The cross-functional, cross-team alliance ensures different perspectives are considered and the cloud platform established has the necessary coverage in alignment with cloud adoption goals and desired cloud benefits.

This blog is the third of a five part series:

Pitfalls to Avoid in Cloud Adoption: Focusing Solely on Applications

Pitfalls to Avoid in Cloud Adoption: Perfection as the Enemy of Progress

Pitfalls to Avoid in Cloud Adoption: A Siloed Approach

Pitfalls to Avoid in Cloud Adoption: Ineffective KPIs

Pitfalls to Avoid in Cloud Adoption: Spiralling Out Cloud Costs